Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Injuries catch up with the Penguins in Vegas

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

The Penguins were outgunned on Thursday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, and a lot can be traced back to who they don’t have. Patrick and Hunter begin the show by knocking down some of the negativity surrounding the Penguins. (1:34) While it certainly would be preferable for the team to be winning, it is time to take a step back and realize that many key pieces are out of the lineup, and that showed against Vegas. They then discuss the game as a whole, some of the good, some of the bad, and a few players who didn’t have their best effort. (11:40) Finally, the Penguins are back at it on Saturday night when they’ll head to Utah to take on the Mammoth, another team that has exceeded expectations this season. (23:00) Everydayer ClubJoin the Everydayer Club for ad-free audio, access to our group chat on Discord, and more. Use code DEADLINE ahead of the trade deadline for one month free. Tap here to learn more: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! QuoMake this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away.Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go tohttp://Quo.com/lockedonnhl. Indeed Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You got to know when to hold them. You got to know when to fold them. And when you're in Las Vegas, sometimes those chips and cards just don't fall your way. And that was the case on Thursday night for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hunter and I are going to recap that game and get you set for this weekend's game against the mammoth on a brand new locked on penguins. You're locked on penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team.

every day. Welcome in to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. You can find us on Instagram at Lockedon underscore Penguins.

and TikTok at Locked-on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, which you should be, make sure you've hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know

when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Final score out of Las Vegas. Vegas Golden Knights, six, Pittsburgh Penguins, two. But we'll go with five to two for arguments sake, because Vegas did get an empty net goal. Yes, they count. Yes, they're part of the game. But the Penguins gave up five goals with a goaltender in their net.

So I want to start here, Hunter. I've seen a lot of borderline dooming about the last couple of weeks or the last few games, and especially last night against the Vegas Golden Knights. And here's the thing. I don't think it's as dire as a lot of people want to make it out to be. Is it a problem that they're not getting wins over the last couple of weeks? Absolutely.

It's better to get wins than it is to just get loser points and hang on for dear life. But at the end of the day, we have talked about this at length. This part of the schedule for the Penguins was not only jam-packed because of the Olympic condensed schedule. It is a scheduled month where they are playing some of the best teams in the National Hockey League. And they are now doing so without the services of Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Justin Brzoe, Samuel Gerard, and a couple of others who have been in and out of the lineup over the past week. I am perfectly fine with the penguin's level of play right now. I think they're competing.

They're doing everything in their power to look like a team that wants to win, that is a team that is putting forth a genuinely good effort most nights. The problem is, with all the players that they're missing, with all the talent that's out of their lineup, they're just getting outgunned. And at this point, it might be unsatisfying. to say the penguin's best solution right now, more than anything, is just to get some bodies back. Yeah, 100% agree with you on that last point.

They need their big guns back, man. Like, I think this group, they've done as much as they can without the two-headed monster, but now they need both of them back. Evgeny Malkin has one more game left on his suspension. He'll be back in three days. That is going to be huge for the final stretch run. Sydney Crosby took a little bit of contact during the morning skate before the game against Vegas. There's a chance he goes on Saturday.

If not, maybe Monday when the Guinea Malkin is ready to come back. I don't think it's too much longer. And once those two come back, it's just everything is just going to sort itself out lineup-wise. You have Ricard Raquel obviously go back to the winger spot. And I thought Raquel, I know I went at Raquel a little bit earlier this week just because I wanted to see him be a bit more consistent. In a couple of games since, especially against Vegas, I felt he was one of the Penguins' best players on Thursday against them, in my opinion.

I thought that goal that he scored was great. I can tell that he's really been putting in extra work with face-offs being the top line center. Once he goes back to wing, I think that's obviously going to really help him for the rest of the season. But just everything just gets easier, ones the two-headed monster comes back in. You know, you're also without Justin Brzeau on a week to, week basis who has been one of your best debt players sam gerard i thought played really well in that last game before he got hurt he's day to day now he took the morning escape before bagas was out there for a little bit went off didn't play he's still day to day so hopefully it's not too much longer for him

they just need to be healthy because when this team is healthy they are a legitimate good team they're fighting their butts off as much as they can every night but there's only so much these guys can do without the services of their two best players so i agree agree with you on that aspect. And I also do want to say this, Pat, because I have also seen dooming too. And we're going to get into more about this game on Thursday because I didn't like a lot of the decisions that some players made with the fuck on their stick, namely Connor Dewar, Parker Watherspoon was horrible in this game. Vili Coivin, I thought, played a really good 40 minutes and the third period wasn't as good. We'll get to that a little bit later. But I want to say this.

Meaningful games, it's a race, man. Like, this. is what you sign up for. Would you rather watch the games you're seeing this year? Would you rather watch that slop that we got last year when these games did not mean Jack, unless you're obviously hoping for them to lose to try to get the top overall pick last year? But you have to fight for your right to get into. Did anyone think this was going to be easy? No, this is not easy. It's supposed to be hard. Getting into the playoffs is supposed to be hard. I'm having a lot of fun watching these meaningful games. I know you are, Pat. Everyone that listens to slash watches this show

should be having fun with these meaningful games. And it's going to be a finish right until the end. I can't wait to see what happens. But I just hope, you know, the dooming, it's just people got to relax just a little bit. I don't want to tell people how to be fans and all that. I'm not trying to play fan police fan. All I'm saying is take a deep breath.

We're still in a playoff spot right now. The reinforcements are coming. it was never going to be easy and it's going to be a lot of fun to see how this goes for the final month of the season. And to almost repeat myself here, watching the last week of games, I would understand some of the negativity.

I would understand some of the panic if this team was somewhat healthier or fully healthy. And they just weren't showing up. And they were just kind of having these crap games where they don't put up a great effort. They're not doing the things that made them successful. That isn't the case.

Watching last night's game back, was it their best game? No, they had mistakes. We're going to talk about those mostly in the second segment. They had some boneheaded moments and some moments where you look at it and go, what the hell were you thinking? But at the end of the day, this team knows they're in a playoff race. They are working hard. They are trying their best without some of their best players.

And you stack up last night's roster for the penguins up against Vegas's roster. It's not that comparable. Like Vegas is a lot better on paper. And they ended up showing it in practice. And this is the one thing we'll get to real quick before we had to break and talk about the penguin's side of it. Here's where the biggest difference to me was last night. Vegas was opportunistic. The penguins were not.

When Vegas had an opportunity to score, they put the puck in the back of the net. When the penguins did, they either got goal lead or they didn't make the right decision. Or as we've been saying for most of this segment, they didn't have the guns to go out there and score. So realistically last night, the effort was fine. The pushback was fine. They just got beat by a better, more opportunistic Vegas team. That and I also again do not like some of the decisions that some certain players made with the puck.

because every time had it felt like they were getting back into the game, especially when they made it to one game. Seconds later, Connor Dewar, a horrendous decision with a puck on his stick. Usually, Connor Dewar does not do something like that. Like he doesn't make those dumb decisions where he just throws the puck to an opposing player stick. He did that and it ended up in the back of their net. Then the Penguins make it 3-2. By the way, that call from Josh Getsoff was awesome.

He literally willed that goal into existence. but you have some momentum to start the third period. It looks like you're pushing to really tie the game. And then Parker Watherspoon makes a very ill-advised play at the blue line. Billy Coyven, not strong enough along the boards. I kind of put that goal on both of them, in my opinion. Might be a hot take to some. I think it's on both.

Vegas goes down the other way. Boom. They score. Again, like a lot of those goals were because of really poor decisions. with the puck on their sticks. And that aspect, no matter who is in the lineup, Pat, needs to be cleaned up big way. Absolutely agree with you on that one. But let's leave it there for this opening segment because we still have plenty to get to from last night's loss against the Vegas Golden Knights.

We'll talk about some of that decision making, the goal tending, and so much more. So hang with us. We got a lot more to get into about the Penguins' loss against the Vegas Golden Knights right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is our friends at Fandul. College basketball is nonstop, big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every night. From early tip-offs to late night West Coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. And now Fandle is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parley profit boost. You can build any college hoops parlay you want.

rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever fits your read. You can make spreads, totals, and player props to match how you see the slate playing out. Then you can apply the profit boost and instantly bump up your potential payout. Go safe, go bold, ride with the team you've been following all season. It's your parlay, your style. Now with more upside behind it. Just head to fendual.com to get started. That's fandul.com.

Fandul play your game. We're back here on the Friday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes, breaking down the Penguins late night, Thursday loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. If you missed it, it was a tough one for the Penguins. And let's kind of start where we ended the first segment, Hunter. Three of Vegas's goals were pretty much direct results of the Penguins turning the puck. over. Now, I do want to add a bit of a caveat to this because I agree with your assessment that

the Penguins puck management on Thursday night left a lot to be desired. But again, very similarly to how I began the show, I saw a lot of discussion that almost made it seem like the Penguins went out and just played shinny for 60 minutes. I will agree. Again, their puck management Thursday night wasn't great, but I also think it gets highlighted because three turnovers lead to three goals and it kind of puts a microscope on everything you're doing. Not to let them off the hook, but the puck management by and large on Thursday night wasn't fantastic.

Agreed. And it's funny, I actually liked most of the first period. I thought they were totally fine. they were getting some chances. The one goal that ended up in the back of their net was one of those bad turnovers where penguins don't make the right play in their own end. Yeah, it's a bit of a bad bounce off the ref it looked like,

but Vegas was able to capitalize there, good on them. But I was like, okay, I still am fine with the Penguins game going into the second period. Dorothea, if there's really not much you can do on that shot, Pat, that's just a disgusting shot past she loves. but a couple goals after that again Parker Watherspoon who I'll say this man I have been a big fan of his season overall he needs to wake up I don't think he has played very well over the last week and I do think that needs to change I've seen a lot of pucks bouncing over his stick making the wrong leads of the blue line you saw that on display on Thursday in Vegas especially on the goal where again he kind of sent it to the boards I still think

Coyvina needs to be a bit stronger there. And I'm not trying to harp on him too, too much because I honestly felt in the first couple of periods, he was setting up a couple of really glorious chances. The one that Tommy Novak had, I thought Novak scored there. I even put my arms up like, oh my God, what a pass. And then I saw that it went just wide. I actually really liked his playmaking skills that he showcased, just didn't go in the back of the net.

And then you have that situation along the boards where I think he needs to be a bit stronger. And then to put a bow on, you know, some of the puck decisions that I really didn't like, I do think Archer Shilov needs to be better as well. I'm not going to pin this entire game on him. That is very unfair. Some of the goals he really had no chance on. I mean, heck, the Mitch Marner goal. And he's not stopping that. Conor doer put him in a really bad spot there where, again, he is, he barely makes mistakes at all the season there, Pat. You know it's not your night when someone like Connor Dewar is making a mistake like that where he has the puck in complete control scanning into his own end and then he just does a no look pass right to the stick of a biggest

I do and they go to the back of the net like what are you so as a goal he's supposed to do there but I do think for example um the fourth goal I think he could have been a bit better on in my opinion so again I just think she loves that is needs to play a bit better as well a lot to work on still I do think a lot of the puck management, a lot of the mistakes, I do think it's all wrapped up into the same kind of box in the sense that this is a team that is getting frustrated. This is a team that is feeling a little exasperated because they've had such a good season up to this point. And it's not falling apart. They're still very much in this thing. But, you know, they know the situation.

They want to be able to help. they want to be able to continue it. And sometimes Will does not match skill in that, unfortunately, is kind of where the penguins are right now. You should say the fifth goal was the one that I felt she loved should have the one, the Ico one, the fourth one. My fault. I mix those two up.

But again, I want him to be a little bit better. But again, you can't pin last night's loss on him. He was putting a bad spot several different times. You also brought up someone that I wanted to discuss on this show, and that is covenant. If I'm Kyle Dubus and Dan Mews and the rest of the player development staff,

when we get to the end of this season, wherever it is, whether it's after game 82, whether it's after the playoffs, wherever it may be, and he walks in for his end of season meeting, I'm looking at him and going, here's a piece of paper, and it says, gym, protein, gym, protein. because I love the kid's skill. I love his speed. I love his hockey sense.

I think he has a bright future as an NHL player, but he has got to get stronger. Yeah. And a lot of it wasn't just based off last night. A lot of this has been based off his game in the NHL this season. He's a little too easy to knock off the puck. Now, some of that might come with some veteran savvy and experience where you know, hey, I'm in this situation.

I'm going to be under pressure. I got to move the puck or I got to protect myself better. But at the end of the day, there have been a lot of moments with Villay-Coyvenin where I look at it and go, kid, you've got to start hitting the gym because this is a big boy league. We love the skill. We love the speed. It's all necessary.

But when you play teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, when you play teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning, when you play teams like the Florida Panthers or the Dallas Stars, you are going to get knocked around. You are going to play some physical hockey. And if you're getting knocked off the puck that easy, your coaching staff is probably going to think twice about putting you in the lineup for those games.

Yeah, and I mean, he's dominated the HL when he's been down there this year. But of course, it is completely different when you compare that league to the NHL. I just want to see him bring some elements of his game down there up to the NHL because Pat, we haven't seen it consistently this season. That's the part I really want him to focus on to take that next step and becoming a full-time everyday NHL player.

One other thing I really wanted to get to close out this segment, I hated the power play last night, did not care for it at all. There was one power play during this game, Pat, where they had 80 seconds of zone time, and they did not fire off a single shot. I don't like being someone that yells, shoot it from section 215 in the arena, but my God, man, fire the puck to the net. There was way too much overpassing. That was the last thing I wanted to bring up as well.

These two things kind of go hand in hand. Way too much overpassing on the powerplay, which in turn may the powerplay not look very good. and in general at five on five, Penguins are passing up way too many good looks. Guys, Aiden Hill has been one of the worst goaltender in the league. Fire the puck at this guy. They were just looking for the perfect play. Come on, man.

Can't be doing that. Just like the godfather, Hunter did not care for the power play. That one is for Hunter, specifically, and a lot of you silly family guy fans out there. But, yeah, I mean, I can't disagree with that. It's been a problem for a couple of weeks. weeks now. And it's been inconsistently a problem. It kind of feels like it crops up once a month or every couple of weeks with the power play and even just the game in general with this team

where they're overpassing. They're passing up good looks. And I mean, it is my philosophy for pretty much everything in life. K-I-S-S, keep it simple, stupid. If you got the look at the net, put it on net. If you got the chance to shoot, shoot the puck, especially like you said. Aidan Hill has not been a good goaltender this year. When you play a team like Vegas that you are, without a doubt, overmatched against, like they were last night, your one opportunity to even the playing field is to take advantage of a struggling goaltender.

And they didn't really do that. And it kind of led to them. looking up, them passing up some good looks, power play not taking advantage of some golden opportunities, and ultimately it ends up in a regulation loss. But Hunter, unless you got anything else to add about this game in Vegas, the penguins are back in action this weekend. And they're taking on a team who much like them has been a big surprise this year,

the Utah mammoth. Hunter and I are going to get you set for that game this weekend when we come back right after this. But we got one more sponsor to get to, and that is our pals at Indeed. Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, your inbox overflowing, in that one position you just have to fill still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed, sponsored jobs help you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, the same skills, experience, and location.

That way, you're not just hoping the right candidate comes across your, post, you are going to be able to find the exact right person. And here's a stat that says it all. Since I have been talking to you, companies like yours have made 27 hires on Indeed, according to their worldwide data. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes with Indeed sponsored jobs. With Indeed sponsored jobs, as we said, you'll spend less time searching, more

time interviewing those candidates who check those boxes, which means less stress, more time and more results. When you need the right person to cut through all the chaos, it's a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Listeners of Locked on Penguins will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get their job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support this show by saying you heard about Indeed, right here on Locked on Penguins. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply.

Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Wrapping up the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. Been waiting to make this pun for a while. It's going to be a mammoth. night on Saturday in Utah. They should have been called the Yetis.

No one's going to confuse a coffee mug with a hockey team, but I digress. Big game here for the Penguins on Saturday night in Utah, 9 o'clock, Eastern Standard Time. And Utah having themselves quite a year. And I'll say, I said before we went to break, it's a team that's a little bit surprising. I kind of want to amend that. I would say more ahead of schedule than I would say surprising because now that they have an ownership that actually gives a dam and knows what it's doing, we're starting to see a lot of the seeds that were planted in Arizona start to blossom because despite their ownership in Arizona, Bill Armstrong did one hell of a job putting together a great pipeline with a lot of really good players and prospects.

and now that's starting to come to fruition. They sit in the first wild card spot in the West with a record of 34, 26 and 6, 74 points, plus 21 goal differential. They are currently on a bit of a slide, but at the end of the day, this is a team that is really talented. They're on their way. And they're a team that might get lost in the shuffle with how good the West is, but it's one that you should not forget about.

I feel like I've had a lot of old takes exposed for this NHL season as a whole. The Utah one is aging like fine wine. I predicted the mammoth to make the playoffs this year, and that's looking really good going into the final month of the season. I really like the skill on this roster. Clayton Keller having himself a year with 19 goals and 64 points in 66 games. Nick Schmaltz, 24 goals and 59 points in 66 games. He's also fresh off an eight-year extension.

Dylan Gunther is having himself a year with 30 plus goals. J.J. Paturka, since coming over from Buffalo has been a lot of fun. Lawson Krause, Logan Cooley, and he's been banged up throughout the year. But, man, Logan Cooley,

when he's on and when he's healthy, Pat, we all know. He is a lot of fun. I love me. I'm going to stick my flag in the ground right now ahead of time, and I'm going to put 10 toes down on it. He is very much on track to be maybe the best player

to come out of Pittsburgh with the way he has been playing. in the way he's going to develop over the next few years. That kid is the real deal. He's disgusting. Like when he's healthy, he is, again, a lot of fun to watch. They have a lot of double-digit goal scores.

They play well defensively. A lot of their underlines are very solid this year. Top 10 in shot of Tams for 16 minutes at 5 on 5, top 10 expected goal share, and top 10 in actual goals in terms of their starting goaltender, Krell Vimelka. He ranks 17th in goals state above expected with 8.8 has right around a 900% percentage per money puck 2.6,9 goals against average,

but still top 20 in goals, say it above expected this year. He has been fairly good for this Utah team. They also have VTEC v. VATVN check as their backup. They've gotten combined this year right around 900 goaltending. That's been good enough for them. I think for the Penguins, revenge very much has to be on their mind for this one. Were they getting badly outplayed by Utah in the first 40 minutes of the first game?

yes, however, they had a three nothing lead going into the final 20 minutes and they lost that game in overtime. I think that's going to be heavily on the Penguins' minds where they're kind of, they're going to want to just get back at Utah after the way they played that third period back in December where the team was just literally blowing every single lead known to man. It was a fun game overall and you saw the Utah's talent on full display, but that's still something I really want to see the Penguins try and fix if they do. get out to a big lead in this one. You said it.

Utah, they're coming off a overtime loss to Chicago recently, and they're not playing as well, but this is still a team that can score it will. They defend well. And again, they get solid goaltending. I want to see, you know, puck support, puck support, and more puck support. I haven't been seeing it as much, especially on Thursday against Vegas, better decisions overall. I want to see, obviously, the power play look a lot better.

So those are just a few of the things that I'm looking for in this game. But Vegas one of all, our response. You really need the two points in this one. The standings are getting a bit tighter. Columbus is now only two points back. They got that point against Florida, they lost in overtime. And I don't think Columbus is going to keep this up forever.

They have one of the hardest schedules remaining right up there with the Penguins, obviously. But, you know, it's put up or shut up time. You're about to get your two-headed monster back. I want to see a response for the penguins in this one. This is a really big game overall against a team that is also struggling as of late. That's the biggest thing is you've got to have a response. You're going up against a team that's on a three game losing streak. You're going up against a team that has been up and down.

I mean, that's not to discount how good they are. I know I said at the start, it's a team you shouldn't sleep on, but it's been an up and down year for them. they've been climbing high in the standings. They've gone through some lulls. They're in one of those lull periods right now. And for the penguins, I mean, I'll just keep the theme going for me on this episode. This has to be a stupidly simple game.

This has to be a borderline boring road game because I'll say this for what the penguins did in Vegas on Thursday night. They tried to play a game that they can play when they've got a healthy lineup or a mostly healthy lineup. when you've got this lineup that they're icing, you've got to dumb it down. It's got to be pucks in deep. It's got to be shoot every opportunity you get. Honestly, you know what game you should probably try to model a little bit? The Carolina Corses work the puck down low, try to draw in the defending team, and look for those shots up top because when you're down this much talent,

a lot of the stuff that you're doing that has led to success is not going to be available. So you're going up against either one of Vanichick or Vermelka, who have both been good enough. I will say this, we kind of joke about goaltenders being under 900. Being in around 900 this year, that's pretty much average. Yeah, I mean, it's been good enough for them. They're in a playoff spot right now. They're getting fine enough goaltending.

if that holds for the rest of the season and their offense keeps going and they obviously rebound from this losing streak, hopefully not against the Penguins, of course, but after that, they're going to be totally fine, I think, to make the playoffs this year. And I mean, the other point I was getting to there was in the NHL this year, save percentages are at their lowest point since the mid-90s, right at the very beginning of the dead puck era. So we're getting back to that point, not the dead puck era, the point where offense is starting to eclipse goal tending in defense once again.

So every time we joke about, oh, he's got a slightly under 900 save percentage. Well, it means he's kind of right in the middle of the pack. So that is what it is. And then finally, the biggest thing that is going to hopefully help the penguins. You have a chance not to just get back in the wind column, but a chance to get your power play back on track because Utah Mammoth have the 20th ranked penalty kill in the league.

This is a team that gives up quite a few opportunities, gives you the opportunity to swing the game with special teams. And I look at this lineup, sit or no, Sid. You've got enough talent still in the lineup for your power play with Carlson, with Raquel, Latang, with Chinikov, Kindle, where you should be able to put together a competent power play unit that gets you on the board once or twice when you have the chance. Yeah, it's really just up to Todd Nelson to kind of dumb it down a little bit.

Simple zone entries, methodical puck movement. You can't be just passing the puck around for 80 seconds like you were doing against Vegas. And yeah, I know Vegas has a top 10 penalty kill on the season. But, you know, you try doing that against really any PK. They're just going to sit there to be like, okay. that's fine with us. So more of a shoot first mentality, which is mostly what we've seen throughout the year. And again, I understand. You're without the two best players overall on your team, obviously on the power play too. But I just want to see them be more simple on the power play. Also be a little bit more selfish.

Fire that Pac-Man. Like again, you don't need to be looking for the perfect play and all that. But again, man, we'll see if they can respond. This is a big game for the Penguins. and I want to see them also have a big end to this road trip too. I know it gets even more difficult after that. Go play a high flying avalanche team that just traded back for Nassam Khadry. You have Carolina to end it before you come home. I want to see them have a really nice end to this trip. You have one out of four points so far.

How do you respond with the reinforcements about to come back? Curious to see. Huge, huge opportunity for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And if you're looking to get home a little bit, from St. Patrick's Day weekend in Pittsburgh this weekend. Penguins, Mammoth, 9 p.m. on SportsNet, Pittsburgh. And of course, I have to say it, if you are celebrating St. Patrick's Day this weekend, be smart, call an Uber, drink responsibly, everything.

Don't be selfish. Make sure you're keeping everybody safe while celebrating what might be my favorite holiday. But that is going to do it for this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. we will be back on Monday to recap this game as well as get you set for the rest of the week ahead. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, thank you as always for tuning in. And we will be back on Monday.